Each image is part of a limited edition, is signed & numbered and includes a certificate of authenticity. All images are printed with archival inks on premium fine art paper affixed to a rigid & durable backing.

I especially love working with bird and animal images and am particularly fascinated with the birdcage motif (I use it a lot!). The tutorial today features an image that includes the birdcage and hawks and is called The Rescue.

Here is the image in its entirety.

This image began with a blank canvas of 14 x 11 inches to which I added one of my favorite art papers that I textured slightly with an oil paint filter. I kept it at a a normal blend mode and 100% opacity. On top of that I layered in a cityscape that I found on Creative Commons setting it to soft light at 55% opacity and overlapping it at the bottom edge of the canvas.

Next came a beautiful peach-colored cloud layer that I blended in multiply mode retaining 100% opacity.

This is how it looked at this stage.

For the next portion of this piece (which was very time-consuming and sometimes tedious, I must admit) I had to construct a cluster of the bird cage, the hawk inside the cage, the branch, and the small bird perched on the branch. For this I opened a new 12 x 12 transparent document and added the cage first with the hawk on top. After selecting all of the cage I painted out parts of the hawk so that he appeared to be inside of the cage. I linked these two elements so that I could move them around as one piece. Next came the branch on top of which I placed the small bird and linked these two elements. I then placed the hawk & birdcage with the hook onto the branch and masked out part of the hook so that is looked to be hanging from the branch. Finally I made a group of all of these elements and moved it to the main canvas.

After the addition of this cluster I added an osprey, a hawk, and an eagle-the osprey set to soft light at 100% opacity and the hawk and eagle set to normal and 100%. Some flying birds dot the upper canvas set to darken mode (because they were on a white background) and 40% opacity.

At last we reach the end with the layering of a textured paper set to multiply at a 45% opacity.

The pure magic that is winter is the theme today in a piece entitled Nature Listens, which will be available on Etsy in a day or two. Beginning with the finished piece I’ll follow with its deconstruction. At the end it will be my utmost pleasure to offer 2 more holiday-themed files free as a way of thanking you all for following along.

Comparatively few layers and elements make up this piece, and with the understanding that you have a basic understanding of Photoshop this tutorial will hopefully be easy to follow. So let’s begin.

Here are the papers and textures.

The layers were set in the order shown; first the clouds, then the landscape of firs, and finally the falling snow. It’s always best to play around with the order of layers, blend modes and opacities to get just the look you’re after.

Here are the elements (and how I love these clusters!). The bare trees are in the foreground, and I chose to place the skater and the village off center. I rotated the dove horizontally and placed her in the upper right corner.

Added the text and signature, and it is now a fait accompli!

For those who would like to take a closer look here are the PS panels. The first is the panel showing the layers that have been grouped. The second and third are the original working panels.

And here are the files as promised. I see this as a photo mat for a holiday photo…

and this as a scrapbook page or for framing.

If you can’t retrieve these files directly from this post leave your email address in the comment section, and I’ll send them to you. Enjoy!